[DrewDog]

Where do you guys buy your ammo from? I'm looking for a cheap place but one that you've had good luck with in the past also. Prices on midwayusa.com and cheaperthandirt.com seem pretty good.

Also whats one of the less expensive brands that I can reliably use? I've heard bad things about Wolf ammo, should I stick with WWB or something comparable?

 

[morbidking]

i never had a problem with wolf ammo but I don’t like it that much

online ammo
www.midwayusa.com
www.cheaperthandirt.com
www.ammoman.com


if you want cheap ammo look into reloading

I can reload 100 rounds of 40s&w for $2.20

9mm 100 rounds $2.00

10mm 100 rounds $4.00

357 mag 100 rounds $3.00

22-250 100 rounds $15.00

300 ultra mag 100 rounds $31.00

 

[manygunner]

I love Wolf ammo but I am not allowed to use it anymore, new range rules. My suppliers are;

www.ammoman.com
www.outdoormarksman.com

try 'em, you'll like 'em.

 

[DigMe]

I also sometimes like www.sportsmansguide.com if I need to order some kind of ammo that I can't find around here.

brad cook

 

[rquack]

where does a person buy components to load 9mm for 2.00 per 100 rnds?

I recently looked at reloading for my 9mm and the best I could do was 105.00/1000, or 10.5 cents per rnd. this included fmj bullets, powder, recyled brass, and primers. And I could buy NIB ammo beginning at 98.00/1000.

I'm not trying to be a smart guy here, I'm new to shooting handguns and would genuinely like to learn to how to do this most econimically

For your cost I would buy a new loader and shoot a lot more. Can you help a guy out here....

 

[crushert]

I love Wolf ammo but I am not allowed to use it anymore, new range rules.

On a side note, do ranges make that much money off spent brass? Seems a lot of them disallow using steel or aluminum(CCI?) cased ammo. Must be somewhat lucrative if they won't allow their customers to shoot it.

Never given it much thought, but what makes brass the superior material for gun/shell casings? Guess it's time to do a little research for my own curiosity.

 

[LexDiamonds]

I'm curious about the .02 .40 rounds as well. My current setup is:

.06 match grade 180gr. FMJ
.01 once fired brass from e-bay
.01 new cci small pistol primer
.01 Blue Dot powda

For a grand total of 9 cents a round not including time. For me, this is a good deal, as I pay 16 cents a round for WWB.

 

[Nickle1]

I can reload 100 rounds of 40s&w for $2.20

How the hell can you do it so cheap?

What components are you using?

 

[morbidking]

Nickle1
How the hell can you do it so cheap?


easy cast

40s&w

lead free
cases free

powder $15.00 pound get about 2000 rounds a pound

primers $14.00 for 1000 $28.00 for 2000 primers

comes out to $43.00 for 2000 rounds

9mm is about the same with less powder

 

[Nickle1]

huh! how does the lead perform?

 

[morbidking]

huh! how does the lead perform?

could be better but for the price not bad at all

i get about 5'' groups at 20 yards good enough for shooting bottles and steel targets and just have fun with



my cheap target loads are

WINCHESTER SMALL PISTOL PRIMERS
3.2 grains of hogdon clays
cast 175gr swc
free range brass

 

[rlp1970]

Hey Guys!
What is the best ammo to get when packing for self defense??
FMJ? Hollow Point?

 

[Delija]

Hey Guys!
What is the best ammo to get when packing for self defense??
FMJ? Hollow Point?

Uh....your "subject line" reads "Best home defense ammo for XD sub 9mm. Your question asks about the best ammo for "packing", which to me implies for carrying (not "home defense"). So which question do you want answered?

Hollow point handgun ammo will, in theory, do more damage to human tissue than FMJ bullets.

They are also is less likely to over-penetrate (go through an assailant), generally considered safer, since it's less likely to go through a bad guy and continue on to hit an innocent bystander.

However this is a bad way of looking at things IMO since no matter what you are shooting, and no matter how good a shot you are, you (or anyone) has a pretty good chance of missing your target. Especially in a high stress situation, which all shootings are.

If there's an innocent bystander behind a bad guy, you are probably more likely to miss the bad guy and hit the innocent than you are to hit the bad guy and have the bullet pass through him (or her) and then go on to hit an unintended target.

If there is any person or object that you do not wish to hit, you cannot shoot any kind of bullet in the direction of that person (or object). In other words, you just cannot shoot. If you do, this is indefensible in a hearing or lawsuit.

Hollow point bullets, because they are designed to open up and slow down on impact have another draw-back. They may be ineffective if your target is wearing heavy clothing like a thick leather jacket. This depends on the type of hollow point, and the caliber, weight, and also the amount of propellant behind the bullet. You mentioned in your "subject" line an XD Sub 9, so I guess you are interested in 9mm ammo only? (You don't specify in your question though).

Hollow point bullets are also (in theory) less likely to ricochet, which I suppose is a point in their favor as far as safety.

Many people use frangible bullets in their homes, which is a different kind of bullet altogether. It's designed to break apart on impact and (in theory) not go through walls....a selling point for use in home defense. I have no personal experience with these expensive rounds that are considered by some to be ineffective. They are neither hollow points nor are they FMJ.

As for full metal jacket bullets, they have their advantages. They are less likely to be stopped by heavy clothing, they feed more reliably in certain semi-automatic handguns and if you are in the military you violate the Geneva Convention if you fire an expanding (hollow point) bullet.

But if you are in the military, you shoot what they give you, so it isn't a concern.

If you look at ammunition packaging you will see that hollow point bullets are usually labeled "self defense". FMJ bullets are usually labeled as "target" or "range" ammunition.

Peace,
D.

 

[retired]

rip1970, not wishing to be rude, but you should do a search on this subject. This particular subject has been discussed in numerous threads, with everyone having their favorite.

 

[orc4hire]

As for full metal jacket bullets, they have their advantages. They are less likely to be stopped by heavy clothing, they feed more reliably in certain semi-automatic handguns and if you are in the military you violate the Geneva Convention if you fire an expanding (hollow point) bullet.

They also minimize the harm to your target....

Also, if you're in the military you can use hollow points all day long withing violating the Genevan Convention, unless you're using them on POWs. Mainly because the Geneva Convention doesn't have anything to do with small arms ammunition; it's the Hague Accords that ban expanding bullets... but of course the United States never signed them so it doesn't apply to us anyway. (Though we play along, just to be nice.)

 

[Delija]

As for full metal jacket bullets, they have their advantages. They are less likely to be stopped by heavy clothing, they feed more reliably in certain semi-automatic handguns and if you are in the military you violate the Geneva Convention if you fire an expanding (hollow point) bullet.

They also minimize the harm to your target....

Also, if you're in the military you can use hollow points all day long withing violating the Genevan Convention, unless you're using them on POWs. Mainly because the Geneva Convention doesn't have anything to do with small arms ammunition; it's the Hague Accords that ban expanding bullets... but of course the United States never signed them so it doesn't apply to us anyway. (Though we play along, just to be nice.)

Thank you. I stand corrected.

Peace,
D.

 

[Fly-Sig]

For 9mm defensive ammo, I believe the very best are Remington Golden Saber or Speer Gold Dot, 124 gr +p. They are hollow points. Avoid the lighter rounds, 115 gr and lighter because they suffer fragmentation and/or poor penetration. The frangibles all suffer serious penetration issues IMHO and I would not use them.

 

[rlp1970]

I did not see a search on this I basically just wanted some advice as I am new with handguns and still learning alot everyday

 

[ScottQ]

The March issue of Gun Tests did a review of several popular 9mm defensive loads. They tested muzzle energy, accuracy, expansion, penetration, and retained weight, as well as overall impressions.

The ammo tested was all +P or +P+ ammo for the 9mm, the assumption being these are more commonly used for defensive purposes, and as the 9mm bullet it fairly small, it benefits greatly from the increased velocity.

Ammunition tested was:

Winchester Ranger +P 124gr SXT
Winchester Ranger +P+ 127gr SXT
Remington +P+ 115gr JHP
Federal +P+ 115gr JHP
Federal +P+ 124gr Hydra-Shok

Why were these rounds tested, and not others? Was their test, not mine, so I dunno. In any case, the Winchester Ranger +P+ 127gr was the overall best performer. It's also the only round on this particular list that meets the FBI requirements for penetration and expansion. For reference, the other rounds that meet the FBI requirements are (at least according to the latest information I could find):

9mm
-Winchester Ranger 127 gr +P+ JHP
-Winchester Ranger 147 gr JHP
-Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +P JHP
-Remington Golden Saber 147 gr JHP
-Federal Tactical 124 gr JHP
-Federal Tactical 135 gr +P JHP

Hope that helps!

Scott

 

[parawiss]

ok im a newbie here.
Lets settle many things about JHP ammo.
as for the military the only ones who really use JHP ammunition is special OPS. the only reason the line units do not use it is because the price. It really has nothing to do with any convention or treaty, but economic issues. The governmont has also contracted a few ammunition plants (red creek, lake city to name a few) that make 99% of the ammunition that the military uses. They run automated presses to manufacturer most of the components used in the ammunition. That is why it is all **** and the copper jacket comes off the round when it goes through cardboard (except the 9mm) although since iraq started they could not keep up production (50K rounds per 1 enemy KIA, overall doesnt take into fact rounds used in training, etc.) so they started buying cheap ammo from companies such as CCI (used lawman 9mm there a lot). Now when it comes to special OPS issues, they are already in violation in many ways (uniform to equipment) of many things, so they use what increases their survival the most. I worked with some alphabet soup doing things that never happened, and we used JHP all the time. Frangible is only good during live fire training, except for select few types, glazer safety slugs are ok (the ones with the little teflon ball in a frangible HP) the rest are utter ****.
JHP ammo is pretty much the choice for defensive use, although with a sub compact you may want to look into ammo specifically made for sub compacts (doesn't reach as high of velocity) that expands better.
FMJ ammo, if you are using it for in the house or something like that you are wrong. Some areas (orange county CA for example) if a stray round strikes another person and it is FMJ you can get nailed hard, if you use JHP you can at least lower what it could have been. Also a heavy leather jacket and JHP, the guy is still going to be hurting. I have seen JHP rounds go through a car door and out (barely) the other side (an old VW jetta) and the slug was massively deformed/expanded. for home defense i would either go with JHP (the cheap way) or those nice glazer (or like) rounds that cost way to much(usually $10 for 6 or 8) and would also lower your risk for when you miss, since most baddies will say **** this oh **** and turn and burn. Remember to also USE MINIMAL FORCE NECCESSARY TO NEUTRALIZE THE THREAT! Word it this way if you ever have to defend yourself or family. Whether the assailant dies or not you are going to be busy with paperwork. There will be a hell of a lot. Just make sure you attempt to treat the guy you shot, call for an ambulance etc. or you can get a wrongful death suit on your hands. A lot of areas also require a basic first aid class for concealed carry and in some cases just to purchase a handgun.


Side note, military tactics also dictate wounding over killing, it creates a bigger mess to the enemy that way. That is also why the military is stuck on 5.56mm (.223 remington) and 9mm luger. They are not as likely to kill, are cheap, and weigh less.